Alessandro Rütten

Alessandro Heinrich Rütten (born 4 October 1996 in Heinsberg, Germany), formerly known by his stage names Sandro Nicolas, Sammy Clay, TYLR and currently Leo Dante, is a German singer-songwriter.

Leo Dante
Birth name	Alessandro Heinrich Rütten
Also known as	Sandro Nicolas, Sandro, Sammy Clay, Tyler, TYLR
Born	(1996-10-04) 4 October 1996 (age 26) Heinsberg, Germany
Origin	Germany United States Greece
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals drums guitar

Career

Rütten was born in Heinsberg, Germany, as Alessandro Rütten to a Greek-German mother and a German father.^[1] Part of his paternal family lives in the US. He was raised in Germany, where he started his career in music.^[2][3][4]

In 2018, as Alessandro Rütten, he participated in season 8 of The Voice of Germany (the German version of The Voice). He performed Shawn Mendes' "In My Blood" in the Blind Auditions, and all four coaches turned for him. He was eliminated in the Sing Off round.^[3]

In 2019, performing as Sandro Nicolas, he represented the United States in the New Wave competition in Sochi, Russia and finished in 5th place.^[3][4]

Later in 2019, he was internally selected by the Cypriot broadcaster CyBC to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.^[3][4] He was due to perform the song "Running" under the mononym Sandro.^[5] However, the contest was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and CyBC did not invite him back for 2021.^[6] In May 2020, he was part of the joint European broadcast of Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light.^[7][8][9]

In 2020, Rütten rebranded himself with the stage name of Sammy Clay.^[10] In 2021, Rütten rebranded himself again with the stage name TYLR.^[11] In 2022, Rütten took on yet another stage name, this time calling himself Leo Dante.^[12]

References

1. "Η Κύπρος πάει Γιουροβίζιον με τον Sandro Nicolas". www.checkincyprus.com. from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
2. "Cyprus has selected: Sandro Nicolas to Eurovision 2020". Eurovisionworld. 29 November 2019. from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
3. "Cyprus: Sandro will represent Cyprus at Eurovision 2020". wiwibloggs. 29 November 2019. from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
4. "Cyprus: Sandro to Rotterdam!". esctoday. 29 November 2019. from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
5. Sandro Nicolas representará a Chipre en Eurovisión 2020-05-27 at the Wayback Machine RTVE.es. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
6. "Cyprus: "Life is a rollercoaster ride" – Sandro speaks out for first time since not getting return ticket for Eurovision 2021". Wiwibloggs. Wiwibloggs. 12 July 2020. from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
7. "Guest performers announced for "Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light"". 6 May 2020. from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
8. Farren, Neil (5 May 2020). "Cyprus: CyBC Reveals Eurovision 2020 Week Broadcast Plans". from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
9. "Europe Shine A Light: Details about the Eurovision 2020 replacement show". wiwibloggs. 6 May 2020. from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
10. Cyprus announces new artist for Eurovision 2021-01-23 at the Wayback Machine wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
11. "tylerfromheaven". Instagram. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
12. "Leo Dante". Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via Instagram.

Preceded by Tamta with "Replay"

Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 (cancelled)

Succeeded by Elena Tsagrinou with "El Diablo"